Aussies fatter, drunker and carry more STDs than ever before

A report released today highlights an important social issue:

Australians are fatter, drunker and have more sexually transmitted diseases than ever before...

The truth is that those things are connected.

Women are getting fatter. Men need to drink more to be interested in sex. More alcohol means less chance of remembering to practice safe sex. Thus, more are getting sexually transmitted diseases.

That seems a reasonable enough connection to me.

The report includes:

AIHW director Penny Allbon said about 7.4 million Australians were overweight and almost one-third of those were obese.

That's about 2.5 millions obese people.

From a report dated 20 June:

Almost four million Australians are obese, according to a comprehensive study.

Can someone please make up their mind about the real figure? It sounds like they've pulled a number out of their clacker for the purpose of scaring/forcing us all into action. And if the study that found that 4 million of us are obese was 'comprehensive' then what was the study from the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare's study showing 2.5 million?

According to a report in The Age on 20 June says:

AUSTRALIA has overtaken the United States as the world's most obese nation, a new report says.

The report, Australia's Future Fat Bomb, says 26 per cent of adult Australians - almost 4 million people - are now obese, 1 million more than the last calculation in 1999.

Woohoo! First the America's Cup and now, after years of stuffing our faces with pies and chips, we can claim the World's Fattest Nation title. Brings a tear of pride to a patriot's eye...

Naturally, the government is going to tackle the crisis in the same feckless way it's going about dealing with high fuel and grocery prices - by forming a committee to look into taking action sometime. According to Health Minister Nicola Roxon:

Obesity was a national priority and the government hoped to have an effective nation-wide strategy implemented in the next 12 months, Ms Roxon said.

A government-initiated inquiry into obesity would consider a range of measures, including gym membership rebates, Ms Roxon said.

"We expect to have a full comprehensive strategy in place by the middle of next year ... obviously this (report) increases the urgency for that work to be undertaken."

Rebates on gym membership. That's the ticket! Why didn't anyone think of that before?

The whole issue is, of course, a stalking horse for the anti-fast food fascists who want us all to eat lentil soup and spinach as our staple diet.

A Deakin University academic told the inquiry a tax on junk food and reducing junk food advertising targeting children was essential.

Professor Boyd Swinburne, the director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, said a junk food tax could be offset by subsidies on healthy foods.

Taxing junk food first emerged earlier this year at the Rudd Labor government's 2020 idea summit.

Taxing food is an idea from the 2020 Summit?

Is there anything that it wasn't suggested should be subject to a tax at the Summit?

(Nothing Follows)